The Vassalboro Business Association’s Scholarship applications are now available. They should be in local high school’s guidance offices or they can be emailed or mailed to you directly by calling or texting 207-631-3303 with your address. They are due April 15.
They are $500 scholarships for post-secondary programs of study. Recipient(s) must have been a resident of Vassalboro for the past two years. This scholarship rewards community service experiences.
A photo from last year’s 2020 Polar Bear challenge: AYCC Childcare leadership team, Chrissy Johnson, Bobbi Pelletier and DJ Adams, take the dip. (photo by Missy Brown, Central Maine Photography staff)
As top earner for the Annual Polar Bear Dip for the past six years in a row, Tony Tuell and his team of Silver Streen Tavern heroes have raised over $35,000
to help the AYCC provide meals to kids and families experiencing food insecurity.
This year’s virtual event, Shiver yer Shamrocks, requires Dippers to create a challenge, film and post it, then raise funds.
Anthony Tuell is Colby College’s Supervisor of Mechanical & Electrical Services and Polar Bear Dipper Extraordinaire!
The Shiver yer Shamrocks event will be held Saturday, March 20, at noon.
MaineGeneral Health has announced the opening of a new medical practice, MaineGeneral Addiction Medicine on Feb. 1, 2021. Addiction Medicine will provide comprehensive services to patients seeking treatment for substance use disorder, opiate use disorder and the treatment of other addictive substances. Services are offered at two locations, 9 Green Street in Augusta and Thayer Center for Health in Waterville.
MaineGeneral’s Addiction Medicine team uses an evidence-based approach to manage opioid, alcohol and stimulant and sedative (benzodiazepine) use disorders, with a focus on diagnosis, treatment and prevention. “From one-on-one appointments with addiction medicine physicians, to group meetings, individual counseling and needle exchange services, we are here to support patients and families through this process,” said Nicholas Gallagher, DO, medical director.
“MaineGeneral looks forward to providing more robust substance use disorder treatment services to our community,” said Chuck Hays, president/CEO. “For the last 15 years, we have provided medication-assisted treatment for opiate use disorder. Having an Addiction Medicine practice allows us to continue to effectively respond to the current opioid crisis in our community, as well as the ongoing prevalence of alcohol use disorder and its long-ranging effects on individuals and families.”
To learn more about MaineGeneral Addiction Medicine, please call 872-4151 or 207-621-3759 or visit http://www.mainegeneral.org/addiction-medicine.
Lunker of the day: Jeremy Ross, largemouth bass, 6 lbs. 6 oz.
Brown trout: 1. Kylie Caruso, 2 lbs., 13 oz.; 2. Jacob Martin, 2 lbs. 11 oz.
Brook trout: 1. Betsy Discharden, 1 lb. 6 oz.; 2. Owen Robeshauge, 1 lb. 4.5 oz.; 3. Shawn Tibbetts, 1 lb. 3 oz.
Chain pickerel: 1. Nathan Wright, 4 lbs. 7 oz.; 2. Greg Candelmo (no weight available); 3. Aaron Sousa, 4 lbs.
Largemouth bass: 1. Jeremy Ross, 6 lbs. 6 oz.; 2. Brian Garret, 5 lbs. 2 oz.; 3. Olivia Hutchinson, 4 lbs. 15 oz.
Perch: Children 15 and under division: by count: 1. Maryanna Dregier, with 34; 2. Blake Owens, 27; Charles Shapel, 10; Logan Jahosworth, 4; Baily Clonier, 3.
Jeremy Ross shows his prize winning 6 lbs., 6 oz. largemouth bass, as the Lunker of the Day.
The China Four Seasons Club and The China Village Fire Department held their 2nd annual China Lake Ice Fishing Derby on Sunday, February 14. The event was well attended with the entire group spread out over China Lake, where the fishing for the derby was limited. “It was great to see so many families and children involved with this year’s derby,” said Tom Rumpf, President of the China Four Seasons Club. The largest fish was caught by Jeremy Ross. The largemouth bass weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces, winning both the largemouth fishing division and the “Lunker of the Day” award. The derby concluded with a fireworks display set off by Central Maine Pyrotechnics at the north end of the lake.
Olivia Hutchinson displays her third place winning largemouth bass.
Maryanna Dregier took first prize in the children 15 and under category, catching 34 perch.
In an effort to enrich and support their local community, the Greater Neck Road Neighborhood Association recently donated to the China Middle School’s new shower facilities in the athletic locker room. Funds and various personal hygiene items were collected and presented to School Nurse Bonnie Newcombe, left, by Marie Michaud, who is one of the board members of this tax exempt community building group. (Contributed photo)
The Fieldstone Quickstop in South China. (photo from Google streetview)
The Fieldstone Quickstop in South China, at the intersection of Routes 32 and 3, located at 190 Route 3, has recently been sold to Maritime Energy.
Thadius Barber, a resident of China for all but four of his 48 years, purchased the establishment from Mike Rocque in 2004. It was just the right time for a sale, he explained in an email.
“I owned [and] operated the store for almost 17 years. [I’m] mostly going to miss our amazing customers and the best employee family I could ask for,” said Barber. “Thank you, town of China. Thanks to my wife, Darlene, and my four amazing children.”
What’s next for Barber? “Gonna lay low for a while or until life gets back to normal,” he said. “I will describe it as a temporary retirement.”
The new owners, Maritime Energy, with the main office headquartered in Rockland, is a local Maine company with five offices and 12 other convenience store locations across Midcoast Maine. “We generally try to have stores in the same area as our energy offices,” explained Charon Curtis, Vice President of store operations for the company, in a phone interview. One of their energy offices is a short distance east from the Fieldstone Quickstop, on Route 3.
Curtis said they are not planning big changes for the location. Gasoline sold at the pumps will still be branded Sunoco, and they will continue to sell Amsoil products. The Dunkin’s coffee counter will also remain. The Subway sandwich shop, which closed in December of 2020, will not return, but Maritime plans to offer their own selection of pizza and sandwiches.
“We have our own Lighthouse Delis,” said Curtis, “and Terry Haskell, the store manager there, is a very good chef and she is putting her finesse on our sandwiches. We did not keep the Subway franchise, but we’re basically doing all that Subway offered and more.”
Knox-Lincoln Soil & Water Conservation District’s 2021 Spring Plant Sale Catalog is now available in print and online! Plants are available for pre-order only, either online or by mail through Monday, April 12. This year we are offering safe scheduled curbside pick-up of your order on Saturday, May 8 at Union Fairgrounds. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, there will be no cash & carry items and no public sale this year. Quantities are limited so order early – and often – for the best selection!
This annual spring fundraiser provides more than 180 varieties to choose from: bareroot fruit trees and berries for the home orchard and garden; native conifers, deciduous trees, shrubs and vines for conservation, wildlife, and landscape enhancement; and native, organic, Maine-grown perennials and herbs in 1-gallon pots for pollinators. The plant list includes new varieties in all categories as well as tried and true favorites. As always, the print catalog offers descriptions of the plants and cultural requirements to aid in choosing the right plant for the right place. Plant care fact sheets and additional information, including plant images, may be found in our newly updated online store and website.
Don’t wait – visit www.knox-lincoln.org/spring-plant-sale to download a catalog or to shop online; call 596-2040 or email julie@knox-lincoln.org to receive a catalog by USPS – and, think spring!
Madison American Legion Auxiliary is sponsoring a Drive Thru Sock Hop, at Madison American Legion at the back entrance facing Reny’s, on Saturday, February 27, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Donate new socks for homeless veterans, homeless shelters and others in need. Men’s, women’s, teenagers, children – warm socks and every day socks.
Members of the auxiliary will be outside waiting for donations with ‘50-’60s music.
If you can’t make the Sock Hop, there are drop off boxes at Reny’s and Family Dollar, in Madison, as well as at Sun Rayz Tanning & Hair Salon, at 171 Waterville Road, in Skowhegan.
If you are unable to get to the drop off locations or the Sock Hop, monetary donations are accepted and they will purchase the socks. Make checks payable to Madison American Legion Auxiliary, earmark Sock Hop, and mail to Madison ALA, P.O. Box 325, Madison, ME 04950. For more information, contact Harriet at 635-2051.
by Gary KennedyValentine’s Day or St. Valentine’s Day is referenced as the feast of St. Valentine and is celebrated on February 14. This is a day set aside for the acknowledgement of love and affection. But it wasn’t always that way.
Saint Valentine, of Rome, was a third century Roman Saint known for courtly love and is also the patron saint of epilepsy. How these two events, disease and courtly love, became paired I haven’t a clue. However, St. Valentine began in C.226 at Terni, Italia, Roman Empire. St. Valentine the man had a short life, approximately 42 years but was a bishop and a martyr of the Catholic Church.
St. Valentine was credited with many miracles. Bits and pieces of his life were archived in the church and catacombs of San Valentino, in Rome, which was a site of importance all through the middle ages. Eventually these artifacts were transferred to the church of Santa Prassede, during the pontificate of Nicholas IV. His skull is on display with a crown of flowers at Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome. Other relics were taken to Dublin, Ireland, where they remain to this day. This location is still very popular for those seeking romance. Actually, there were two St. Valentines, St. Valentine of Rome and St. Valentine of Terni. A history can be made for both men and both reached Martyrdom. Unfortunately, the church of the time, and for some time after, used the two martyrs’ in different ways which made the two the most confusing of the saints.
In any case we aren’t searching for the religion here but the symbolic romantic notion. Love birds were said to pair at this time, mating for life. If you want to have fun and romance on this Valentine’s Day don’t be researching the saints that have to do with love.
Every day of the year has at least one saint and some have even been removed to make room for others. I will give you one example only and that probably won’t play into your Valentine. St. Perpetua died on March 7 but this date was later assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas. I mention this one as some devoted Catholics are familiar with St. Aquinas. The earliest feast and celebration days were for those Martyrs venerated as having shown for Christ the greatest form of love in accordance with the teaching. “Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends.”
That was the kind of love initially intended to describe the foundation for this holiday. Emperor Claudius II executed two men both named Valentine on February 14, but in different years, of the third century A.D.. Their martyrdom was established by the Catholic Church with the celebration of St. Valentine’s Day. The holiday of Lupercalia and Valentine’s Day somehow got mixed up and really put the true meaning to shame. Lupercalia involved the killing of a goat and a dog and removing their hides to be used as whips. Women would be lined up and naked men would whip them with these hides. The men were naked and after the ritual would pair up with one of the women. This was a very sick holiday but such was the history. As religion evolved so did holidays, that had some connection.
Now St. Valentine’s Day is celebrated with displays of love such as delicious confections, jewelry, foods and romantic cards displaying words of love and affection. It has turned out to be a day of caring and thankfulness for people we care about in all the ways of love, affection and appreciation.